IMO pauses its Strait of Hormuz seafarer evacuation; about 6,000 sailors remain trapped

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said it has paused its plan to evacuate seafarers trapped in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf after the container ship Ever Lovely was struck near Oman's coast, as it could no longer guarantee the safety of vessels and crews.

According to the IMO, before the pause about 2,900 seafarers had been evacuated from 136 vessels via two alternative routes, since the usual traffic separation scheme could not be used because of the risk of sea mines. About 6,000 seafarers nonetheless remain trapped in the region, and the IMO says it is monitoring the safety of more than 20,000 seafarers across the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.

The halt to the evacuation and the shortage of crews add to the paralysis of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that before the crisis carried about one fifth of the world's oil and gas and whose tensions have lifted global oil prices and the region's risk premium.